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Posted on 01/15/2002 8:57:51 AM PST by Stand Watch Listen
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It has been said that the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire. So it is with the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. Certainly there is nothing civil about it.
Last year was a contentious one for the commission, and 2002 is shaping up to be just as controversial. The current dispute concerns Victoria Wilson's term of service, which was to expire Nov. 29 at the completion of what would have been the tenure of the late Judge Leon Higginbotham. The judge died in 1998 and President Clinton appointed Wilson to fill the remainder of his term. However, at the insistence of Clinton-appointed chairwoman Mary Frances Berry, Wilson is pioneering the idea that one can acquire "squatter's rights" to a presidential appointment, as Landmark Legal Foundation President Mark Levin put it. And never mind that the Bush administration had sworn a well-qualified new commissioner, Cleveland labor lawyer Peter Kirsanow, to fill what should have been a vacated position.
Kirsanow says he is "ready, willing and able" to perform his duties. But when the commission had its monthly meeting on Dec. 7, 2001, at which Kirsanow was to take his rightful place on the commission, he was prevented from presenting his credentials and repeatedly slighted as merely "a member of the audience" by Berry and by Clinton-appointed Commissioner Christopher Edley Jr. Wilson sat defiantly at her former place on the left side of the table with her supporters, while the GOP minority who disagree with Berry sat on the right. Kirsanow was not allowed to act as a member of the commission, though he frequently registered a vigorous "yea" or "nay" from the front row of the audience.
Commissioner Jennifer C. Braceras, also a new Bush appointee and supporter of Kirsanow, noted Kirsanow's votes, but to no avail. Berry, who insists it will take "federal marshals" to seat Kirsanow, refused to recognize him.
Kirsanow's position is strong, but the liberal majority — Wilson, Berry, Edley, Vice Chairman Cruz Reynoso and Elsie Meeks — maintains that Clinton "intended" to appoint Wilson to a six-year term. Wilson's formal presidential commission expressly stipulates that her appointment was to expire on Nov. 29, 2001. Indeed, say lawyers at the White House and the Justice Department, Wilson is violating federal law by remaining in office beyond her time. Title 18, Section 912 of the U.S. Code states unequivocally: "Whoever falsely assumes or pretends to be an officer or employee acting under the authority of the United States or any department, agency or officer thereof, and acts as such, or in such pretended character demands or obtains any money, paper, document, or thing of value, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both."
To make matters even more interesting, Berry's staff director, Les Jin, has hired the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to represent the commission in the matter. On Dec. 21, 2001, in a memo to the commission, Jin announced that the firm would intervene in Kirsanow v. Wilson. Braceras was astonished. "In taking these actions," she wrote in a Jan. 3 memo to Jin, "you have acted far outside the scope of your authority as staff director, and we strenuously object." She continued: "We are unaware of any legal basis for the engagement of private outside counsel by the commission, and we are deeply concerned about the serious ethical and legal issues that would be raised by the use of taxpayer funds for this purpose."
Braceras also was disturbed by the fact that Jin, neither a commission member nor allowed to speak for it, obtained this outside counsel in the name of the entire commission and under cover of the false presumption that the commission had voted to support the Berry/Wilson case. "We believe you have mischaracterized the record," Braceras wrote. The commission never had taken a position on when Wilson's term expired, nor had it voted on the issue as alleged in Jin's memo. "Finally, under no circumstances should our individual names appear on any document purporting to be issued in the name of the commission which states a position on the pending litigation between Ms. Wilson and Commissioner Kirsanow, whether authorized by Paul, Weiss or by any other person or firm."
Immediately following the Braceras memo, the Washington Times reported that a spokesman for the law firm said it was intervening on Wilson's behalf at the invitation of the commission but without compensation. Here, too, the commission appears to be acting unlawfully.
Among the many controversies surrounding the commission's release of its highly partisan report, Voting Irregularities in Florida During the 2000 Presidential Election, was the allegation that critical statistical data were withheld from the dissenting minority, Republican Abigail Thernstrom and independent Russell Redenbaugh (see "Disenfranchised Blacks in Florida," Dec. 31, 2001). They weren't given machine-readable data with which to verify the incendiary conclusions of the report, such as the claim that blacks had been 1,000 percent more likely to have their votes invalidated.
The minority had to collect its own data and obtain outside consultation. John Lott of Yale Law School took the job, and his findings radically departed from the commission's conclusions. Lott found that blacks did have a higher rate of ballot spoilage but that it was far less than the commission's report — at most, three times higher. And factors such as literacy, education and other socioeconomic problems likely played a part.
Lott volunteered his efforts, but Berry and the Democratic commissioners made much of a commission rule that it could not use uncompensated assistance: "The Commission shall not accept or utilize services of voluntary or uncompensated personnel. … This limitation shall apply with respect to services of members of the Commission as it does with respect to services by other persons." Thernstrom and Redenbaugh were told to resubmit their dissent purged of the carefully detailed work done by Lott. When they refused, the dissent was published only in the appendix of the report — an entirely separate volume.
So Berry and the rest of the Democratic-leaning majority are acting in contradiction to both the law and the commission rules. That is, they appear to be engaged in violating Title 18, Section 912 of the U.S. Code by conspiring to keep Wilson in office despite expiration of her tenure. And, if the law firm of Paul, Weiss is taking the case pro bono as it claims, working uncompensated for the commission or any of its members, Berry has changed her mind and the Florida dissent may be published alongside the formal report.
At a time when many have tried to set aside blind partisanship and focus on the tasks before the nation, critics say, the wrangling on the commission is rank partisanship to prevent a party-balanced panel. Wilson, who is white, isn't holding onto her seat under anything but the sheerest pretense, critics say, and is in any case hardly a civil-rights stalwart. She has been a book editor at Alfred A. Knopf since 1972, and in 1988 she became vice president and associate publisher there. She is perhaps best known for editing the vampire novels of Anne Rice. Another writer in Wilson's personal editorial charge is Sapphire (Ramona Lofton), whose book Push is about a a 15-year-old, HIV-positive black girl who is molested by her mother and impregnated by her father.
Kirsanow, on the other hand, has a distinguished civil-rights record. He is a successful labor-law attorney and a director of the Washington-based Center for New Black Leadership. It appears Berry would rather risk violating federal law and the commission's own rules to keep on board a white Clintonite with a dubious civil-rights background than accept the lawful black appointee with a strong civil-rights background.
Both sides have submitted papers to U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler and hope for a ruling soon. Judge-shopping and resort to the courts apparently is standard operating procedure for Berry. A Michigan-trained lawyer put on the commission in 1980 by Jimmy Carter, she was removed by Ronald Reagan only to be reinstated after a long legal campaign. This time the courts may have to decide more than whether Wilson can keep her job and leave the commission locked in Democratic hands. They may have to determine what to do with a disruptive and highly partisan commission chairwoman who acts in contravention of the law.
Christopher Jolma is a research associate for Insight magazine.
Works for me!
I cannot imagine a fortunant turn of events that would remove this woman. Her Democrat backing is too strong.
Nice to see you are posting good articles, as always, SWL.
Ok...I don't think that anyone is going to prison over this dispute, but isn't this enough for the President to say:
"Ok, Berry and Wilson, you are releived of duty. If you didn't get that through your thick skull, let me make it simple: YOU'RE FIRED!
Maybe I am stupid, but if the ladies term expired in November, why hasn't this been resolved already? I know that there is a war going on and the White House is a "little" busy, but why haven't they gone to bat for COMMISSIONER Kirsanow (whom, by the way, is a brilliant guy)?
This would be an example of us actually "waiting for leadership," meaning, that we await the duly elected and appointed leaders whose responsibility it is to remove this person sitting in fraud.
We have the Bush [still running the Clinton] Administration to thank on this one, and for the precedent.
I'm copy a reply of mine that I posted about Satcher finally leaving the government teat. In that reply I addressed this worthless and hate filled race monger, Berry.
"Thanks for posting this. This PC/Affirmative Action Hack finally got a gig some place else. I'm sure that our tax $'s will still be paying for his salary!
He is just a prime example of why we need a new law, which will only come if we maintain control of the house and gain control of the Senate!
That new law would be a simple one. Every federal government employee over a certain rank like maybe GS7 or GS8 or the equivalent must submit their resignations three weeks before a new president is sworn in.
Then that president has a year after he is sworn in to either accept or refuse the resignation of each individual.
As it stands now, we can't fire or tar and feather the life long demonicRats embedded into our federal governmental agencies. They are in the CIA, FBI, AG, USDA and every other agencies. Many of these life long demonicRats are like rogue elephants roaming their landscape and still pushing their poisoned agendas which harm America/Americans.
We need a law that allows a new president of any party to clean the house after he is sworn in. That law would be a simple mandatory submission of a resignation letter by every federal employee over a certain rank. Then the new President and his staff have one year to act on each resignation letter! We could see worthless and dangerous governmental agencies just disappear with this form of a sun down clause! Then worthless Clymers like Satcher and Berry would be history with no recourse!
reply 15 posted on 1/15/02 8:30 AM Pacific by Grampa Dave
One of President Reagan's biggest frustrations was dealing with the inherited demonicRats in the federal system after he became president!
These card carrying demonicRats are like poisonous weeds in DC and spread out through the nation. It is time to use some weed removal techniques!
COMMISSION ORGANIZATION
The United States Commission on Civil Rights is composed of eight Commissioners: four appointed by the President and four by Congress. Not more than four members shall at any one time be of the same political party.
The President also designates the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson from among the Commission's members with the concurrence of a majority of the Commission's members.
The Commissioners serve 6-year terms. No Senate confirmation is required. The President may remove a member of the Commission only for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.
The Commissioners hold monthly meetings (except during August) and convene several times a year to conduct hearings, conferences, consultations, and briefings.
Bush should immediately terminate Berry for malfeasance in office.
Only too true. The Clintonistas organized political cells within the agencies under the cover of "diversity programs". There used to be some good pages over at NOAA's site, clearly mapping and showing their "commitment" to helping these "change agents" (Clintonista apparatchiks) shape up the agency. They basically were there to spread patronage around (training, promotions, holding back politically incorrect people -- WM's IOW) and build up the political consciousness of the Clintonista identity-political target demos.
I wrote a complaining letter to Phil Gramm and Kay Bailey Hutchison about this, w/ a copy off to the NOAA bureaucrat in charge of the hive of "change agents", but nothing came of it.
Dubya needs to take a page from Ronnie and use a government RIF to go in there and clear out the political people Clinton left behind. The ones he couldn't get to with a RIF, he could transfer to a huge new government-services center in Anchorage, Alaska. Or Nome.
Once we have the appropriate pieces of paper, we can can her, Wilson, and put Kirsanow and Ward connerly ON the commission.
We need to elect enough senators and maintain the house and get bill through like I suggested re all over a certain civil service rank must submit resignations when a new president is sworn in. Then that president has one year to act on these resignations. If he is a two term president, all still have to submit their resignations again. That way he can trash the turncoats who come out of their closets trying to sabotague him!
This is the only way to clear out these rats/political cells when a new president comes in. Now we can't fire them, shoot them nor tar and feather them. There has to be a better way to clean out the rats and snakes!
1. Mary Frances Berry's position had NO legal leg to stand on.
2. She continued to litigate this.
3. She violated commission rules doing so (already done, but let's get this on some legal record as well).
4. She continued to refuse to seat Kirsanow after the court order was filed.
Once there is a proper paper trail, we can can her, and she can do little. But if we do it without the paper trail, she can do a ton of rabble-rousing, and that will cause big trouble in 2002, because that gets the poverty pimps their latest "injustice."
There is a joke about an old bull and a young bull. I can't repeat it here (due to the rules regarding profanity set by Jim Robinson), but it makes the point nicely. Bush is going to make his move when the time is right, and when he gets the overwhelming superiority in terms of the paper trail. I'll trust Bush to handle this the right way.
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